THIS was the fine inflicted on a man who had gained access to a carriage on the railway by stealth, and who had thought of traveling the whole distance without detection. But to his dismay he had to face that officer who strikes terror to the heart of the dishonest traveler,—the ticket collector. The demand of that official as he came to the door with, "Tickets!" seemed backed by all the power of the law; that little word made the stout offender quail. The man was obstinate in his refusal to pay the demand made upon him, and so he was handed over to the police. The result was announced in a bill at the stations with a "Caution" to travelers, and with this addition, "and in default of payment was committed to prison." "How stupid of the man," said a fellow-traveler, who had been listening to the conversation, "to go against the company's rules." Ah, my friend, it is the old tale—disobedience. Man is radically bad by nature, and now and then he shows his badness by his works. If the company have been at the expense of providing means whereby travelers can reach a distant place, they have a right to make their own conditions; and one is, that every intending traveler shall pay, or some one shall pay for him, his fare for that journey before he puts a foot in a carriage. If he disobeys, then he lays himself open to the law; and once the law gets hold of him, it will not let him go till he has paid the uttermost farthing.
I only use the narrative to illustrate the way in which many act in the question of eternity: they have desires after heaven, and would fain reach there, but, alas! it is in their own way. With many it is only to be reached after a hard and tortuous struggle, a life of self-sacrifice, a continual conflict with a sinful nature which never yields to mortal hand. But is this how heaven is reached according to the scriptures? Will a man ever have peace with God by these means? Surely not, for it is declared, "To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness;' he only shall be saved (Rom. 4:55But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. (Romans 4:5)).
The man had not paid, and added to this, he refused still to pay, and he was righteously handed over to the prison authorities, to pay the penalty inflicted by an outraged law. The collector was not expected to show grace, he was there to do justice, and the law demanded satisfaction; the terms were well known, and it was flagrant disobedience. So the word of God says in reference to the gospel of the grace of God: "He that believeth on the Son of God shall be saved"—saved from death, judgment, and hell—saved from the dreaded great white throne and the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone; and then announces the terrible fine inflicted on the guilty one—the one who refuses to believe that Christ has died to save the sinner: "He that believeth not, shall be damned." Does that offend your ear? Better offend the ear to reach the conscience and the heart, than to sing soft songs to lull the conscience to sleep, only to wake up in a scene of blackness and darkness forever.
Remember, we have to do with God. All that He required to be done to atone for sin, and to put it away from His sight forever, was done by Jesus, and He will not have His mercy slighted. If a man will not have heaven, he must have hell: if he will not by believing the glad tidings receive forgiveness of sins, and be brought into the family of God, he must receive the wages of sin,-death! and he will have to share eternity with all who have not obeyed the gospel-destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His power.
If you, dear unconverted reader, will not have to do with God in grace, you will have to do with Him in judgment, and think not to escape then. The uttermost farthing will be demanded, "and in default of payment, committed to prison;" and what a prison! Once enter its gloomy portals, there is no coming out again—God says it is "forever," and that is a solemn reality. But judgment is His strange work, for He delights in mercy: "He is rich in mercy, because of His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses and sins;" and He sent Jesus as a proof of His great love, and gave Him up to death, even the death of the cross, that we might not perish, but have everlasting life. To the debtors it was: "And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both." Mercy was shown to both the fifty and five hundred pence debtors; for as both were penniless, both, therefore, stood in need of mercy. (Luke 7:41, 4241There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. 42And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? (Luke 7:41‑42).)
Dear unconverted reader, you have nothing wherewith to pay the demands of a holy God, or of His law. How could you meet Him if He demanded payment? You could not; He knows this, and because He loved you, He found a ransom for you, and that ransom, His only begotten Son, who by His death met every demand for the sinner, and is therefore forgiving all who come to Him as sinners in need of mercy. He does not delight in sending a poor sinner to the prison-house of death, and the lake of fire, for He is rich in mercy to all that come to Him through Christ. Had you the influence of the best and wisest men of the earth you could not avert the sentence, no more than you could meet the requirements of a holy God. Besides, the best man of the earth needs forgiveness as well as the worst one, because God says, "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God;" therefore none can reach up to that standard of divine excellence. The only One who could do so has done it, as He said, "I have glorified thee on the earth; I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do." (John 17) The judgment-seat says, "the uttermost farthing." The mercy-seat cries, "forgiveness of sins." The Judge will have to say, "Depart from me." The God of grace cries, "Come unto me.”
Why should He keep calling? Why do you turn a deaf ear to His invitation? Has the world anything to offer like the God of all grace? No, its joys and pleasures are as fleeting as the morning dew—its glory as the flower of the grass, which to-day is bright and beautiful, and to-morrow is gone no one knows whither. If the tale of the love of God—the grace of Christ, will not win you—what will? There is nothing like the telling out of the love of God to a poor sinner. The terrors of the eternal prison-house of judgment may frighten; but the knowledge of Himself, His person, His work, the sent one of the Father, draws the heart: for this He died "the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.”